Blessed by the Moon Goddess

Chapter 1 “We’re under attack, run!” Someone shouts through the halls as they run past. We’ve been under attack several times in the past and we’ve never been told to run. Is this a prank? Why would we have to run? Our guard force is strong enough to withstand any attack. “Okay, class. We’re going to leave, and it’d be best for all of you to take care. Run and hide as best as you can. May the Moon Goddess have mercy on our souls.” Mr. Sherman stated as he opened the door to the classroom and shifted into his wolf form. Maybe this isn’t a prank. I’ve never seen a teacher shift and leave suddenly like that. All at once everyone began shifting and following Mr. Sherman out of the classroom. I can hear screams, growling, and sounds of fighting in the halls. There’s no way this is happening right now. The Bloodmoon pack is the strongest around. We have always been the pack to ally with. I hear the sounds getting closer as the last of my classmates shift and run into the hall. What are they thinking? Why would you run toward the sound of an attack? No, that’s just a suicide plan. I glance at the window and consider my options. If I jump out the window, it’s a two-story drop, but in my wolf form, I should be able to land with minor damage. I can run and find a place to hide. It’s a better option than whatever awaits us in the halls. I open the window, kick out the screen which crashes to the ground, and take a deep breath. I need to time my shift just right to ensure I can make it to the ground without killing myself. I climb out the window, while holding the windowsill I get my legs under me enough with some effort and push myself away from the building, giving me space to shift into my wolf. I land with a hard thud and roll across the cement courtyard. I jump to my feet and notice a throbbing pain in my left hind paw. I must have sprained it, but I don’t have time to worry about it. I need to find somewhere to hide. I can still hear the screams and growls from inside the building as I push myself to run into the surrounding woods. There I stumble upon bodies of slain wolves. I recognize some as our pack guard members from past pack events I’ve attended and I suppress a sob. There are at least a dozen of them all along the perimeter of the territory. We truly are under attack, and our guard has been overtaken. I run through the woods, avoiding the bodies of our fallen, determined to make it home. I need to make sure my family is safe. Oh, Moon Goddess, please let them be safe. When I get there, I feel my stomach lurching. My father in wolf form lies slain in the front yard, and my mother is on the porch, clearly protecting my siblings inside. Please, let them be alright. The scene inside was worse than what I saw outside. Both my infant brother and my six-year-old sister have been slaughtered in cold blood, neither old enough to shift. My sister would have had her first shift next year, now… I hear a car approaching, and I force myself to move. I shifted and went to my room, grabbed a bag, and stuffed it with some clothes and belongings. I spare a glance out the window to see the car and who was in it. It’s four men I don’t recognize, they are at my neighbor’s three houses down, checking the bodies. Are they ensuring they are dead? I cover my mouth to keep from gasping as I watch them slice the throats of my neighbors who were in their yards. I need to get out of here, there is no way I’m sticking around to find out what happens next. I rush out of the house and take off into the woods again. “Hey!” I hear a man shout. s**t, I was spotted. “A girl is running in the woods.” I hear him tell his comrades. Moon Goddess, if you can hear me, please spare me. The silent prayer rings in my mind as I spare a second of setting my bag down, shifting back into my wolf form, grabbing my bag, and taking off at top speed. The good news is the pain in my rear paw is gone, the bad news… I can hear the sound of an approaching wolf. I see a cave up ahead and pray it will help me. I duck inside and run as deep as I can into the cave. Stupid me, I went and got myself stuck, there’s no other way out of this cave. Please, let them pass and not find me. “Oh, little wolf, come out, come out wherever you are.” A male’s voice called in a chiding tone. f**k! “I got you now.” When he came into view a whimper escaped my throat. He was at least six and a half feet tall, with muscles the size of boulders. I can see every vein looking like they are constricted against his skin as he stands before me. The lethal glare in his cold black eyes tells me I’m about to die… A smirk pulls at his lips as he knows I’m cornered. I’m pressed against this rock as tight as I can be. I don’t want to make it easy for him to kill me. Maybe I can slip by as he moves closer. I’m smaller and nimbler, maybe I’m not dead yet. He moves closer and reaches out to grab me. I dart to his right, only for him to move surprisingly fast, and everything goes black… ******************************************************* My head is throbbing as I open my eyes. I just had the worst dream ever. I try to sit up, but I can’t move my arms. What the hell? I look around and notice I’m tied up. My arms and feet are hog-tied, and I’m still in my wolf form. I could try to shift, but the way I’m tied up, I could injure myself. I take in the reality that I’m in a trunk or something. I hear the sound of an engine but what I’m lying on is a carpet of some sort. The vehicle stops moving and the engine shuts off. Oh no, this can’t be good. I hear a car door open and close then footsteps approaching. When the trunk opens, I begin to shake. The giant from the cave is looming over me with that same smirk. “You thought you would get away, didn’t you?” He reaches in and hoists me up like I’m a bag of flour, slinging me over his shoulder and marching inside a building. Inside he walks down a hall, takes several turns then opens a door before dropping me on the floor. “I’m going to release you, but if you try to attack me or run, I will kill you.” He warns as he begins to expertly untie my bonds. “Good, now shift into your human form.” I do as I’m told hoping I’m not about to be violated. “So tiny,” he comments. “Get dressed.” He tosses my backpack at me and I hastily pull out clothing and get dressed. “You disgust me.” “I’m sorry,” I whisper not knowing what else to say. “I will not do anything to you sexually, but you will serve me and my household. If you step out of line, you will be punished. Do you understand me?” I look at my feet trying to keep it together. I will not cry and show weakness. “You are my slave, a spoil of war.” I was not aware the Bloodmoon pack was at war. “Your pack was weak, we killed everyone.” “Except me,” I said in a small voice. “You were a smart one. Thought you could get away, but you failed. Like everyone else in that pack.” The man began to laugh. “You failed, and now you belong to me.” “Yes, sir,” I whispered. I did pray to be spared from death, maybe I should have thought that prayer through. “See, you are smart. Now follow me.” He turns and walks out of the room. “You can stay in there.” He grunts as we walk down the hall. I can feel myself shaking with every step wondering what is going to happen to me. “Helga, darling I got a surprise for you.” The man coos as we walk through a large room, into another corridor. “In the nursery,” a lady calls back. He opens the door and I see a large lady with her brown hair braided down her back and a baby suckling her breast, clearly nursing. “Who is there?” “Your new aid. A spoil of war as promised my love,” the man smiled and walked to his wife. He kissed her lips with a soft smile, which surprised me to see the tenderness between them. “She’ll do, though someone older would have been better.” She grumbled. “How old are you?” “Seventeen,” I answered trying my best to keep my voice calm. “I would have guessed twelve. Did they not feed you in your pack?” She scoffed as she looked at me up and down. “You can start by cleaning the children’s rooms, making their beds, and doing the laundry. In a few months, I’ll see what other tasks I can give you.” “Let’s go.” The man ordered grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the nursery. He opened the doors to every room in the corridor as we walked down it. I counted seven rooms plus the nursery all full of things, with messy beds. No wonder this lady asked her husband to get her some help. Why he chose me, I’m not entirely sure. “Do not speak to my children. You are only allowed to speak to me or my wife when spoken to, understand?” “Yes, sir,” I murmur. “You will remain in your room, and someone will deliver your meals to you there. This is not a picnic, and I expect you to do as you are told. If you try to escape, I will know and you will be punished extensively. You had your chance to run. You didn’t get away, and now you belong to me and my household. Don’t test me, I will kill you.” He turns and walks away. I quickly set to work making the bed and tidying up the room contents before going to the next room. As I finish the third bedroom, I hear shouting and laughing from the large room down the corridor as several people enter. I started with the least messy rooms first, and now I have the three messiest, telling me three of these children are very young. I have no idea how these rooms are this messy unless they haven’t been cleaned in months. When I move a pile of laundry and discover a dish full of old moldy food, I vomit in my mouth a little. This is disgusting, how could anyone allow their kids to live like this? “What are you doing in my room?” I little girl’s voice growled from behind me. I spin around and see her looking at me with anger and hatred. I can’t answer her as I was told I’m not allowed to speak to her, and I’d rather not find out how I’ll be punished after one day. I nod and quickly leave the room not knowing what else to do. I enter the room across the hall from here and begin to clean it up only for the little girl to follow me. “What are you doing in my house?” She demands. I turn, look at her, and sigh heavily before turning back around to continue cleaning this room. “Oh, you’re the new maid my dad got Mom.” I nodded in agreement but continued working. “Did you look at my journal?” I shook my head without stopping my task. “Good, if you ever look at my journal, I’ll make sure you are punished.” I don’t respond. I finish making the bed and move to clean the toys that are tossed all around the room. “Masey, where are you?” I hear Helga call. “Here Mother, I’m coming.” The little girl replies and skips out of the room leaving me to finish my work. Once I’ve completed this room, I return to Masey’s room and finish cleaning up the toys in there before going to the last room. I completed all the rooms and began to gather all the laundry, only to realize I didn’t know where the washer was. I don’t know what to do until I see Helga entering the nursery. I rush to catch her hoping to ask, “I’m sorry ma’am. Where is the washer?” I ask softly hoping she doesn’t become angry with me. “Next to your room, of course.” She scoffs. I bow and run away just as fast. I bring the laundry to the corridor where my new room is and return to get the rest. I have over seven loads of laundry to do, though I don’t want to mix the clothes up for fear of getting punished. As soon as one load of laundry is finished, I fold it up and bring it to the bedroom I took the basket from hoping it’s the correct room. I managed to put everything away and get back to the laundry room before the next load was finished. I bring the next basket full of laundry out of the laundry room only to find my kidnapper standing in the hallway. “The kids are going to sleep now. You’ll have to complete your chores tomorrow. Here is your dinner,” he states handing me a plate of food. “May I have permission to finish washing and folding the laundry here in the laundry room?” I ask as I set the basket down and take the plate from him. “Whatever do not leave this corridor. I will know if you try.” He warns. “Yes, sir.” I take my plate and walk to the room he told me was mine. It’s not much, just a bed with a small table and chair. It could be worse; I could be sleeping on the floor. I eat the plate of food I was provided. It’s basic, but filling so I’m not complaining. When I hear the machines in the other room finish, I get up and switch them over, before folding the laundry. Then I go back to my room and sit in silence trying to keep myself from going crazy or breaking down in tears. I’m now a slave to an unknown pack and an unknown family, while the rest of my family, pack, and everyone I’ve ever known has been slaughtered by this very pack. I want to yell and scream, but I stand no chance against my abductor, hell even his daughter looked like she could pummel me. When his wife and he called me tiny, they weren’t lying. Compared to them I am, I was always tiny even within my pack. Some even called me runt because of how small I am. I’m only five feet five inches, and I’m a hundred and ten pounds soaking wet. Doctors can’t understand how small I am compared to my family. Everyone I’ve ever known has had more muscle tone than I have, here this family makes even the Alpha of the Bloodmoon pack look small. When I’m finished with the laundry, I begin to remove the items from my backpack before going to sleep. Who knows what time I’m going to be woken up. I just hope this family doesn’t turn out to be my worst nightmare any more than today has already been.